The Handy Blog

Do you have a mold problem? Mold can be very dangerous to the health of you and your family; It can - likewise - be harmless. There are types of mold that can make you sick, and types of mold that are used to make antibiotics.

Mold grows in moist areas, so if you have mold then you are most likely getting water damage from somewhere. If this is a bathroom then it might be from shower/bathtub overflow or it could be from a leaky pipe inside the wall.

If you have mold on the outside of your wall then it is likely that you also have mold on the inside.

Here is a picture of the wall that we will be working on. I have circles the areas that have visible signs of mold in red.

If you notice some of the moldy spots are bigger than others. This is usually a sign of more moisture

The first thing I do is check for wall integrity. If there has been some type of water damage then the wall will be weak. This could also be a sign of significant water damage to the support structure inside the wall.

Here is another picture of the same wall. If you look you can see the mold all over the wall. This picture is from a wall that had water leaking from a cracked outer-wall.

I have chosen to use Germ Control to clean this wall. Germ Control boasts that it kills fungus and even MRSA! It is also said to be earth friendly.

I have chosen to use this because of the fungicide. Mold is just a microscopic fungi, so this stuff should help me to kill the mold and contain any spores.

Basically, you just need to spray this chemical on the area where the mold infection is and then clean it off. I would recommend wearing disposable gloves when doing this. It is just not worth getting sick. You should also think about wearing a mask when doing this.

This is the stuff that we are going to mix into the primer that we are using. I prefer Kilz primer because it is extremely thick, and it sticks to anything. If you can’t get any mildewcide then at least use a good think primer.

Clip the corner of the mildewcide package (or other mold/mildew fighting paint additive) and pour it into the primer.

Mix the primer really good. You want to make sure that little package is mixed in nice and even.

Once you have all the primer mixed you will want to prime the wall. If you feel frisky you can put two coats on, and depending upon how bad the mold infestation was it might be a good idea. Make sure to let the coats fully dry inbetween; primer will wrinkle and could cause problems if you do not wait long enough.

After you prime the wall you will want to paint it. I have yet to do a blog about painting, but will be doing on soon. Please check back, or check my other posts to see if one is up yet.

I do plan on updating this part once I have a painting blog up, but if I get busy I might forget.

That is pretty much it. Congradulations! You have just successfully sealed the wall and killed the surface mold.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me at Question@thehandyblog.com or to leave a comment here. I will do everything in my power to reply to all comments as soon as possible.

Hope this was helpful!